#but i doubt people actually know the book

[medusa-is-a-terf]

I have seen how violent „trans women“ can be. „Trans women“ abuse, rape and even kill women. Why should they do this to us when they are subjected to the same violence. Why should a group of „women“ be protected for perpetrating abuse towards other women, just because „they aren’t the main perpetrators of patriarchy“. Why is this important to you instead of the safety and trauma of women who are victimized by trans women. If you think it’s fascism to talk about this issue that’s on you. I‘ll stick to reality and know what the terms I use mean. Calling out violence against women will never be fascist because fascism is deeply patriarchal and the patriarchy evolved through violence and rape. It’s literally the opposite of fascism and I pity you for your stupidity to believe it’s the same. Have you ever opened a history book? Have you ever heard the stories from people who actually suffered under fascist regimes or got victimized by fascists? I think not, because it’s not comparable to the pity party an abuser throws when their true face got revealed. Have you ever heard the term victim blaming? You should look it up, it’s literally what abusive trans women do, when women hold them accountable. It‘s not hard to see what they are doing. They also call their victims „fascist“ and „nazi“ in their smear campaigns in order to isolate them from social support. And yes, they know this could lead to further violence against their victims but they don’t care. They don’t have any empathy for the women they abuse. Some trans women may be victimized too, but not seldom by another trans woman and if they are talking up they lose their community. So this is obviously not about trans rights, this is about power.

However I doubt you fully understand what I’m talking about. So I ask you again to not use language that makes you look like you understand women‘s issues :)

this is what we mean when we say that now it’s literally impossible to talk about female oppression

[nightlyrequiem]

Would it be possible to get Valeria with a homebody writer (specifically romance writer maybe) partner?

This is totalllly not self indulgent at all, but I feel like the scenario you write where she broke into the readers house (which I loved btw) and becomes her stowaway would probably be the only way they meet lol, it's also possible that she could see the writer in a coffeeshop somewhere and have a meet cute but that doesn't really seem like her style to me :(

Feel free to change this up in any way you want I'm just throwing my ideas out from my mind palace

Yeah, I feel like meeting Valeria would be a little difficult unless it was some kind of home invasion type of scenario. Meet Cutes aren't her style sadly

Tags/Warnings: Kidnapping, WLW, Reader Gets Knocked Around, Fangirl Valeria

Meet Cute

Human error is unavoidable, like misspelling a word or grammatical errors. Even with a proof-reader, things are bound to slip past notice. Mistakes will be made eventually, no matter how careful a person is. You're tossed to the cement floor harshly, pain blossoming in your ribs from the impact. The sac over your head prevents you from seeing anything. Your ears ring, making it impossible to make out the low muttering of male voices.

No one is truly aware of how quickly things can change. Having four walls and a door often provides one with a false sense of security. Of safety. You thought you were safe. You were a bit reclusive. Preferring to be inside where the variables of life are easier to control. Even in a city like Las Almas. The environment that night was perfect for writing. Dark and slightly stormy. You were curled up on your couch, laptop in your lap with inspiration flowing from your pores. The first draft for your latest sapphic romance novel was almost completed.

Without any warning your front door was kicked open. The locks proving to be completely useless. You screamed and fought as masked men stormed inside. However, it was a short-lived battle. One punch to the temple was all it took to take the fight from you.

You're not given any time to catch your breath or get your bearings. Your grabbed by rough hands and dragged somewhere else. You're lifted and placed into a chair, hands tied behind you. Footsteps fade as the men leave you bound and blind. The only sound now being your own breathing and the frantic beating of your heart.

Waiting is the worst part. The dread of what's to come will never compare to what will actually happen. You're never going to finish your book. The second in your series. Your readers will never get to know what happens to the two main leads. Maybe it's your writing that got you here. You had gotten death threats before. As well as other types. As was the risks of writing the things you do. The situation almost reminds you of the story you posted to the internet when you were too young to be on it. A flawlessly witty girl is kidnapped by a stereotypically masculine guy. They fall in love.

You doubt there will be any love here though. Love doesn't flourish where death and decay feast. Finally, you hear footsteps approaching. Firm and confident. The door slides open and people enter, the room becoming heavy with tension.

"You thought you'd get away with stealing, hm?" A woman asks. You frown. You don't recall stealing anything. "Thought you were smarter than me?"

The bag is ripped from your head, and you recoil at how bright the lights are. You blink at the sight of the visibly angry woman in front of you. Reeking of violence and danger. Maybe it's because of all the questionable romantic leads you've written but there's something alluring about her. Though her being attractive doesn't make you less frightened.

She almost looks as confused as you feel. Brows furrowed into a frown. She says your name, which doesn't bode well for you.

"... I didn't steal from you." You say softly. Hoping to pacify the situation. "At least not knowingly, if I did I can replace it or give it back." You promise. The woman doesn't respond, just continues to gawk at you.

The silent staring is beginning to get uncomfortable. The two men she brought with her exchange confused glances. Clearly something isn't going the way it should.

"You wrote Stardust." She says finally. Your face warms with embarrassment. You're proud of what you write but it still feels... weird to have people talk about it. You furrow your brows. You didn't think a woman that looks like her would be in your audience.

"... Yeah, I uh, did." You nod awkwardly.

She puts her gun back into its holster. "I have all your books." She says. Surprising you.

The woman turns to the men beside her. 

"This isn't the right woman you fucking idiots! I even gave you a picture how did you mess up?" She hisses at them. You almost deflate with relief at those words. A mistake. A simple case of human error. "Get out." She snaps. The men nod and leave quickly. Ashamed or afraid that they messed up. She turns back to you with an appraising eye.

"... Do you like them?" You ask.

Her brows furrow. "What?"

"My books." You clarify nervously. 

She walks behind you.

"One of my guilty pleasures is romance," She starts. "it's a nice escape from the grueling, bloody reality of my life."

"That's... nice." You reply. She didn't really answer your question.

"I'm picky though, I'll drop a book easily if the characters do something I think is stupid."

Oh. She's probably going to chastise you for writing idiots - which admittedly, you have. In some of your earlier books. The ropes loosen, freeing your hands.

"But I like the way you write people." She praises. "They're realistically stupid."

You bring your hands to your lap and inspect your wrists. The soft skin is a little red.

"Oh, thank you." You say, blinking gratefully. She walks back in front of you.

"This was a misunderstanding." She says, voice soft and placating. You look at her and wonder if this is a trick. You rise to your feet.

"All good." You smile. Though it's actually not all good. You're shaken. Your home was broken into and you were kidnapped. However, saying that might not bode over well.

"... So is Stardust getting a sequel?" She asks, narrowing her eyes at you.

She has a very intense stare. You have to look away because staring into her dark brown eyes is starting to make you uncomfortable.

"I'm in the process of writing it, actually." You tell her. "Well, the draft."

She continues to stare at you. "Do you think you could add me into the book?"

You frown. "Yeah, sure I could do that." You nod reluctantly. This woman scares you and you'd hate to disappoint her.

"I shouldn't tell you my name, but I just love you and your writing so much," She admits. "I'm Valeria."

You nod.

"Valeria." You repeat. "Nice to meet you, I suppose."

Valeria nods and cracks a small smile. "Great. Why don't I take you home now then?" She says, herding you towards the door. You try to protest against that, not really wanting her to know where you live. Though considering her people had taken you from your home in the first place, she probably already knows. Your words fall on deaf ears. Valeria is determined to escort you home safely. Wanting to spend a little one on one time with her favourite author.

[severus-snaps]

i know we all enjoyed that screencap from hogwarts mystery where madam pomfrey lets slip that snape is needy when he gets a cold but like

maybe it's because he's feeling under the weather that his usual facade cracks. the illness is just a conduit, an excuse to be 'needy', because he finally has something he can blame for feeling bad - something specific that he can pinpoint, one he can share. without meaning to, without any intention or conscious awareness that it's what he's doing, he's seeking the comfort and sympathy he's always been starved for. what would it take to be considered needy, anyway? turning up repeatedly for potions from madam pomfrey, even though he could brew them himself? coughing/sniffing dramatically in the staffroom, sitting by the fire looking like death warmed up, and playing it up a little?

i'm not sure he'd get much, though. in the game, madam pomfrey tells people he's needy, which doesn't suggest sympathy and actually feels a bit mean, telling other people that. when he speaks to the students, he tells them to stop gawking at him with 'feigned pity', suggesting that's what he's used to:

getting back into 'canon' extrapolations from book characterisations, i expect that the other teachers would hardly be sympathetic... (i went on a bit of a ramble so have broken it down below)

mcgonagall mcgonagall is probably the professor suggested to be closest to snape, with their quidditch rivalry bordering a frenemy-style relationship - but she seems very old-school tough love/dismissal, the type to snap "just have a whisky/potion and get on with it"

dumbledore dumbledore might offer some kind words, but their relationship is... complicated. snape is, obviously, a brooding little bitch - he's not about to forget that dumbledore dismissed his wanting to die like it was nothing when lily died, so he's hardly going to think that dumbledore's sympathy is genuine

madam pomfrey i think madam pomfrey would be similarly no-nonsense to mcgonagall; she sees worse every day from kids' magic going wrong, the yearly disaster whenever harry is there, and quidditch injuries, and even when harry is injured i don't remember her being particularly comforting - she'd hardly have time for snape's theatrics.

hagrid weirdly, i think hagrid would be sympathetic - he always seems fairly nice about snape, probably because anyone dumbledore trusts is 1000% incredible in hagrid's book - but i doubt snape comes across hagrid that often outside of mealtimes (should they sit together) since hagrid lives outside the castle, unlike the rest of the staff (which seems a bit mean, on reflection - though maybe hagrid likes it because he prefers nature and his own space, and the freedom to do illegal activities like dragon rearing and breeding possibly illegal creatures, but i digress)

the others i doubt the other professors are close enough to snape to offer anything more than polite, surface-level sympathy for a coworker - and snape knows that.

if we want to get into little bit sad territory, imagine snape in the staffroom. there's a bug going around; everyone has had it at some stage. he leaves a tray of vials filled with pepperup/some other potion; people take them gratefully.

then he overhears sprout like "here filius, make a tea out of this and you'll be right as rain!", mcgonagall sharing her own whisky for a hot toddy with madame hooch when she gets a chesty cough, or the staff put together care packages to take down to hagrid's hut when he's ill.

snape isn't offered anything. the potions quickly run out.

he heads to the hospital wing to ask for another, because his brain fog and aching limbs and sinus pain mean he's firmly not in the mood to be bent over a cauldron to be making any more - and besides, he's made all of the potions for the hospital wing anyway - they're basically his to take. he made them especially for this bug going around. he's handed them out in the staffroom already. he's left them in the slytherin common room. he even took one to dumbledore's office.

but rather than offering anything, madam pomfrey shoos him away quickly, tells him to stop being such a bother - so he just traipses back to his own room, fully aware that nobody will gather leaves for a curative tea for him, he'll be receiving no care packages, no hot toddies, not even his own potions - and if he doesn't show at dinner, because he's tired and grumpy and aching and just wants to sleep, nobody will ask after him - because nobody cares

but yeah. snape, feeling under the weather and subconsciously seeking a little bit of care - and still not receiving any :(

[lovemyromance]

"Elriel isn't a forbidden romance"

Oh I'm sorry - did Rhys haul Azriel into his office and say

"Why the hell are you sneaking around, old sport? Go make love to her right now in the garden! I'll kick Lucien out myself! Celebrate your love out in the open, fuck them consequences!"

Or did he - idk - explicitly say:

"Stay away from her" "I can and I will [order you to do that]."

And then proceed to explicitly detail exactly what the consequences would be if Lucien or his volatile, evil sire reacted poorly: A blood duel - which could rip apart any alliances they have with not just Autumn, but the Human Lands, and Spring.

Did we just gloss over that part ... or????

There's a huge misinterpretation (purposeful) that people have when they claim Elriel isn't forbidden.

Yes, Rhysand did say Elain will have their full support should she choose to reject the bond.

Keywords: "should she choose"

I have no doubt that Rhys would support Elain, Feyres dearest sister, if she decided to reject the bond. He adores Elain, no question.

But has Elain done that yet? Has Elain gone to Rhys or Feyre and told them she wants to reject the bond? Does she even KNOW it's possible?

Likely not. The way they keep inviting Lucien to things despite her clear discomfort is a huge sign they haven't told her she can reject the bond.

Obviously, anything related to HER bond would be in HER book. Whether she accepts it or rejects it - everything would be in her book, from her POV. You can't cover that entire plot line in a bonus chapter or from Nesta or Feyres POV.

The point I want to make goes back to Rhys, however. Although he would support her, I don't think he is in any way, pushing Elain to reject the bond. Rhys also considers it a sacred gift, and given he is a mated male, I'm sure he places significance on that bond.

Not to mention - that mating bond benefits Rhys politically. It keeps Lucien in line, keeps the BOE / Human lands in line, keeps their alliances to Spring and Autumn. Lucien is important to him, and the only leverage Rhysand has is that mating bond. It's the only way he can trust Lucien to not fuck them over.

Rhys, while he would support Elain in whatever she decides to do, does not particularly want her to reject this bond because it is political leverage. Nothing more, nothing less.

He does not want Elain to accept Lucien against her will. He does not want her to be unhappy with Lucien. He is hoping they will work things out - just like everyone else (except Elain and Nesta and Azriel lmao).

And he doesn't want Azriel "interfering" with that possibility. He doesn't want Azriel starting a war while Feyres pregnant, while they have a death god on the loose. He doesn't want Lucien to break all alliances. So he forbids Azriel from seeing Elain.

I have no doubt, all Azriel has to do is say the words "I love her" and all Elain has to do is echo that sentiment for Rhys to drop the order. I have no doubt he'll fully support them.

But till that day - Rhys not trying to encourage it.

And now, that day where Elain & Azriel actually confess their feelings for each other is further away, because of Rhys interfering in the first place.

It doesn't change the fact that there could still be a war with Autmn if Lucien decides to call a blood duel. Or if Beron does. There's going to be discontent.

Either way - Elriel is very much a forbidden romance. Because there are external political and societal factors keeping them apart. It's not JUST Rhys keeping them apart - it's all the consequences he listed, it's the societal significance of the mating bond, the cauldron's will and corruption.

This is what creates a compelling novel: drama, conflict, angst, and romance. I for one, cannot wait to read it.

[markantonys]

I can't remember what Rafe has hinted/what has been leaked/what you've speculated re Matt getting the Ashandarei. On a personal level I really don't give that much of a fuck if he gets a "real" Ashandarei or keeps his DIY dagger-and-spear version from s2, but at this point I want him to get the book version ASAP just so the bookcloaks will stop bellyaching about it.

yeah i don't know if we've had any hints one way or the other! all i can think of is there was an interview with the production designer and he mentioned that it was important to get the design of the DIY spear right because it's the weapon mat will be using "for the rest of the series" but then later in the same interview he said it was the weapon mat will be using "for the rest of the season" so i didn't get a definitive sense on whether he actually meant it would be mat's weapon for the show's entire run or whether he only meant that it was an important spotlit prop for this particular episode (plus english isn't his first language so idk how much stock to put in his precise word choice of series vs. season. heck i think even native english speakers use them differently depending on region, thinking about how taskmaster calls it "series 1" "series 2" etc where an american show would use "season 1" "season 2" instead).

so yeah, i'm not sure what to predict myself! i could see it falling into the same category as what you (i think it was you) were saying about mat's ancient memories, where the show clearly made it so that he got them already from the horn and it's silly for reddit to be expecting him to get them from the finn next season. maybe this is a situation where he got his ashandarei already and it's silly to predict he'll get another, different one next season. on the other hand, the DIY spear wasn't as obvious a substitute as the hero memories, so it's a grayer area. back to the first hand, iirc the bedpost he used IS carved with ravens, which feels like kind of a giveaway that this is indeed THE Ashandarei™ since that's the design it has, unless they only designed the DIY one the same way as easter-egg-y foreshadowing.

back to the second hand, mat still needs to get his medallion. but back to the first, he doesn't have to receive them together, so maybe medallion + answers are his only finn gifts, or maybe he picks up the medallion from the tanchico museum (no reason it can't just be a ter'angreal artifact already lying around in this realm of existence) and only gets answers from the finn. i'm also not even completely sure mat needs the medallion at all if Hating Channelers isn't an entire personality trait of show!mat lmao but it IS such an iconic part of his whole Look that i don't see why they wouldn't include it.

overall, i too don't care either way! i remember i made a post a while back that was like "i can't believe people are actually worried that mat won't get his real ashandarei, come on guys do you think he'll be using a DIY spear for the entire show? be serious" so if he actually does use a DIY spear for the entire show i will be embarrassingly humbled yet again jdkfjg but in my defense, the thing i thought was absurd about that was "mat using a knife taped to a stick as his permanent weapon", it was the unstable temporary craftsmanship that was absurd to me, not the general idea of him making his ashandarei himself rather than being gifted it. all we need is a 3x01 scene of perrin properly blacksmithing knife & stick together (doubling as a good mat-perrin solo bonding scene) and my sole objection would be resolved!

there's also the question of the dagger. would it narratively work for the dagger to be stuck with mat for the rest of the show? i thiiiiiink it would, because rand's already been stabbed, i think fain's already been corrupted, and i kinda doubt they'd bother with elaida's corruption because she's already got enough internal & external factors to make her do crimes without also needing to be corrupted by mashadar. so maybe mat can retain custody of the dagger forever now if no one else needs to come into contact with it. but if not, they could have perrin fashion a new, normal spearhead and weld it onto the stick.

in conclusion, now that i've pictured perrin helping turn DIY Knifestick into a proper permanent weapon, i want it so badly! i want mat's signature weapon to be imbued with the power of friendship and homoerotic stabbings!

[our-ensemble]

this shot in aktk mv resembling the rising sun flag ACTUALLY EVIL I CANT BELIEVE THIS https://x.com/BiBee_Vivid/status/1877072192048861494?t=_-tEriJ8ZWfXxLp1x5mTSA&s=19

Thank you for sharing this. Here is a link to an op-ed that explains the Rising Sun flag a bit. I find that it succinctly addressing multiple points that often crop up in discussions of the Rising Sun flag, and its an easy read. There are books on this topic, though I have not read them personally, and some of the online discussion around the Rising Sun flag can be rather inconsiderate to put it mildly. As such, while the op-ed is not the most formal source, it's a good summary for those who need more context.

Additional things to note: the Rising Sun flag was in use from 1870 to the end of World War II, 1945, which would be the Meiji era, then the Taishō era, followed by the (early) Showa era. The imperial expansion of the Japanese government into other countries - along with the annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom and Hokkaido followed by the assimilation of their respective Indigenous communities - began in the Meiji era. Subsequent eras up until World War II would continue in this imperialistic pursuit, with the bulk of war crimes and aggressions being performed in this time.

This is why the flag's controversy isn't about an accidental connection between the flag Japan used at a specific point of time and its behaviour during that time, but rather because the entirety of the Japanese government's imperialist expansion - from beginning to end - has officially been committed under this flag, hence fashioning the Rising Sun flag into a symbolic representation of Japan's aggressions committed from 1870 - 1945. I point this out because in some discussions about the Rising Sun flag online, it is assumed that people are just complaining about anything and everything related to the Meiji and Taishō era, when concerns are actually tied to the specific ideology that this flag has been used to embody. By extension, the use of the Rising Sun flag by right-wing groups in the present is also not a coincidence.

The use of imperialistic imagery ties into another controversy that Enstars has had in the past with AKATSUKI's Night Watch outfits released in the !-era - and recently brought back as a 3D costume in the !!-era. The Night Watch outfits are modelled after Taishō era police uniforms, which bears similar concerns to the use of the Rising Sun flag. The problem with these outfits is about how the police specifically played an important role in subjugating people under imperial rule, and the emulation of their outfits (especially in an unserious context) trivializes this painful history.

Due to recent concerns with AKATSUKI and Ibuki's writing in the event "Uncertain Skies * The Legend of KAGETSU of the Illuminating Attire of Ascension", we should not take the connections to the Rising Sun flag lightly. I know that many want to give HappyElements the benefit of the doubt and I respect this effort to be understanding; however, since imperialism has been brought up repeatedly with HappyElements in its depiction of AKATSUKI and its treatment of Indigenous characters, we cannot assume that they are totally ignorant.

[greenerteacups]

I can't help but giggle how Ron and Harry in LH both doubt Draco's feelings for Hermione when it's, like, the complete OPPOSITE of what they think. Harry's being all big brother-y like about Hermione and how Draco should treat her right and respectfully or ELSE whilst Ron in the latest chapter assumes he's playing around with the poor girl.

And in reality I'm pretty sure Draco is envisioning his and Hermione's wizardesque wedding for the past 2 books.

Can't help but love the boys' obliviousness in regards to feelings here.

Also goes to show how Draco truly opens up only to Hermione in the most profound-est way. I love them.

Oh, yeah. I think I wrote this in a reply to a comment on AO3, but Ron and Harry are very good people afflicted with Teenage BoyBrain, and in Harry's case, Brother Instinct wherever Hermione is concerned. So they assumed that if Draco and Hermione like each other but aren't together, it's because Draco's not being an upstanding young gentleman, not because (as is the case) Hermione's indulging in a bit of age-appropriate emotional terrorism.

There are also broad gaps between (1) what Draco reveals via narration, (2) what he reveals to Hermione, and (3) what he reveals to Harry and Ron. They know each other very well, but Draco plays his cards so close to the chest — especially when it comes to the whole "if you're important to me it means I'd firebomb a hospital for you" thing. He has this unspoken idea that the moment he admits he cares for someone, they're immediately going to get snatched away by the long hand of the universe, which in fairness to him is informed by certain events that make him not totally wrong. (You might also attribute this to his taste in people, however, which trends towards the reckless and the driven; cue moth/flame metaphor, etc., etc., you all know.) So that's why there's about a half-year lag between whatever Draco recognizes in his own emotions and what everyone else in the story seems to believe: that's about how long it takes Draco to get comfortable broadcasting his feelings.

By the middle of fifth year, both Harry and Ron are full aware (as the chapters reveal!) that Draco cares for Hermione, but I think both boys project themselves onto him, to the detriment of their understanding (as most teenagers do). Ron reads a little more into Draco's possessiveness and jealousy, which are the traits they have most in common (cf. Ch.73). Part of that judgment is Ron's emotional straightforwardness: he sincerely can't imagine any reason that Draco wouldn't be dating her properly if the feeling was reciprocated, so he assumes that there must be some obstacle somewhere, and because he's a bit in love with Hermione in his own right, he obviously assumes the obstacle is Draco. What's Draco's number one problem? He's got a bucket of daddy issues and hangups over his family legacy, especially vis-a-vis public displays of affiliation. And Ron doesn't maybe think Draco's being actually prejudiced here (otherwise, he would have been much, much harsher with him in their argument) but he does think there's a degree of shame or uncertainty on Draco's part that's in the way of them getting together.

Harry, meanwhile, reads the whole situation as a communication failure: he thinks Draco doesn't realize what he's doing, because if it were Harry, messing someone around sincerely would be a cognition failure. It's not outside Harry's frame of possibility that Draco could end up in a romantically charged situationship by accident. And he probably rates higher the possibility that Draco would deliberately maintain a relationship like that to avoid losing Hermione's attention. Notably, Harry doesn't assume that Hermione's particularly hard-done-by in this situation; in fact, his default assumption is that she's where she wants to be, and if she didn't like it, she wouldn't be there. His trust in her is helped by the fact that he regards her as a pseudo-sister, and doesn't have any stake in the love triangle except that everyone treats each other well. For that reason, his final comment on the matter is a plea for Draco to consider how Ron might feel: he wants to remind them that they're friends, because he watched the group fall apart last year over an argument similar to this one (jealousy, possessiveness, and a torturous litigation of in-group favoritism). Harry is provoked to intercede because he thinks there's a danger of the situation blowing up due to miscommunication and leaving all of them isolated when they need support the most — which is naturally something that the increasingly isolated and angst-ridden Harry thinks should be top priority.

Anyway, I love them, too.

[vallaragna]

Preface this that this is about Destiny 2, a video game, so none of this actually matters. Just hypothetical ravings of a fiber artist with a bit of knowledge about historical things. So like I keep having thoughts about textile production during the dark ages after the collapse. (Specifically at Felwinter's Peak, but hold that thought). We have such varied descriptions of what survived the collapse. People are depicted as wearing basic tunics and dresses that would not look out of place at an SCA event. Technology is primitive, except they still have guns that they up keep and have ammo for, Shaxx is described as sealing his keep with an artificial sealant. So things are so varied and random. Like did spinning wheels exist still? They obviously don't have access to industrial machines, but are they just spinning everything on drop spindles? (Making me question how much work it would take to keep all the freaking iron lords and wolves on that mountain clothed.) For that matter, do they still have acid dyes? Or are they relying on natural dyes? Dye materials used to be highly valued, you can't tell me warlords wouldn't be fighting over this stuff (which also brings up Spices being fought over likewise). I mean you could hand wave everything by saying "golden age technology", but that shouldn't be half an interesting. We do have the Strand lore book where Osiris talks about using a spindle when during the dark age they had to make everything from scratch, which supports that line of reasoning. So no spinning wheel, only spindles. Cloth production takes so much freaking time when doing everything from scratch. With a spinning wheel it takes me hours to produce a few hundred yards of a thicker yarn for knitting, I'm not incredibly experienced, but it takes so incredibly much more time on a spindle. And you need so much yarn to be able to weave cloth of any yardage. There's a reason women in paintings used to be depicted with spindles and distaffs so often. For that matter, what sorts of looms were they using? If they didn't have spinning wheels I'm guessing advanced looms are out as well. So rigid heddle looms? Warp weighed looms? The second would make more sense, but also takes so much time and you can only weave cloth so wide. It's limited by the arm span of the weaver. So narrow fabric, so even more yardage needs to be made. We're not even at the sewing stage yet. I discussed dyes earlier, but it would be important. Even in the actual medieval times clothes weren't all brown. Natural dyes tend to fade faster though. Black dyes were really hard to produce, and they fade fast. Then sewing would be by hand, I doubt there are sewing machines if they don't even have spinning wheels. Sewing by hand takes *forever* even if you are fast. There are tricks to making it go fast, but you're not producing an entire garment in a day, especially if you have anything else going on. For that matter you really care about mending in this environment. Also knitting and crochet? Technically those take longer to produce a garment than weaving and sewing. I know Zavala learned knitting from Safiya in the dark ages, so it did survive.

I think I'm at the end of my ramble, I'll add if I can think of anything else. I'd love to hear other people's opinions.

[chaawaaa]

looks around. can i talk about the delusional romantic chase/house in my brain. delusional romantic chouse. maybe there’s a better way to name the ship but anyways.

i love subby dogboy chase who basically hands over the leash to house as much as the next guy but consider their dynamic in later seasons. their dynamic wherein house actually mellows out in how he interacts with chase and chase actively trying to get house back on his pranks. think chase being assertive. chase who cuts no corners and uses the corniest tricks in the book not only because it’s how he woos people in general but also because he knows it’ll annoy house so much, knows he’ll be pushing limits. house pulls something on him during work? chase exclusively calls him by petnames when they’re alone.

the worst part is house being unlikely to be unaffected by it partially because (looks at his known partners) (i doubt he has ever dated the golden retriever type) (even wilson isn’t that bad) it’s a kind of treatment he has never received before. it’s weird because straightforward unabashed affection? genuine? but also to piss him off? those are not mutually exclusive? he might be showing contempt for the displays but why is he nonetheless kinda sorta being flustered by a brat 20 years his junior. the only correct answer is to out-sap chase and frankly i doubt either of them would emerge victoriously from that. house does something uncharacteristically sweet and has to immediately evacuate to stitch part of his established character back up and chase just straight up stops functioning there and then.

[cakeiscoolsblogthing]

I have a theory.

This is going to be a long post, but I don't know how to do the "read more" thing, sorry.

Bear with me for a minute. So I realized recently that I don't actually see that much Mabel or Ford hate, it's mostly stuff I hear from other people. (What I see is generally more subtle, like I read a fic that was good, but Ford took responsibility for Filbrick kicking Stan out. What was he supposed to do? He's 17 too! I also saw someone say the apocalypse wasn't Mabel's fault, it was Ford's. I'd just like to say that it was Bill's fault and Ford was manipulated into building that portal.)

But I do see a lot of Billford. It keeps on showing up in my suggested communities and the "For You" thing, despite The Book Of Bill portraying it as a very manipulative, horrifically abusive relationship. (When I say relationship, I don't necessarily mean romantic. It could have been a completely platonic horrifically abusive relationship.) And I have to wonder if, because Bill is a triangle, we let him get away with things we wouldn't if he were a human and/or doing these things directly to Ford.

Say that there was a movie. In it, there are two human men. Their relationship is clearly built on manipulation, and when the manipulated realizes that he's being manipulated, he tries to leave. The manipulator proceeds to torture him. You see this onscreen and it's horrible. The manipulator drives a nail through this guy's hand, shoves spiders down his throat, humiliates him . . .

Would people ship these two characters? This is the main fandom I'm in, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say probably not. (I'd like to say that I don't have a problem with people who write them as together . . . as long as it's portrayed as the abusive relationship it actually WAS and not a good relationship.)

All of those were actual things that happened in The Book of Bill. I didn't even mention the psychological torture (He makes Ford forget his OWN NAME) and forced sleep deprivation.

But Bill is a triangle. Bill isn't doing these things directly to Ford. He's doing them while in Ford's body, which is arguably possibly more horrific than if Bill was a separate person doing these things to him, but it's not something that could happen in real life.

But in this analysis of Ford: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58698496/chapters/158032750 when speaking of the torture Ford endured during Weirdmageddon, Callipraxia mentions that the fact that people can't electrocute others "takes at least some of the realism and therefore some of the horror out of the situation." (I apologize if this quote is incorrect, I couldn't find the part where she says this in this quite long work.)

And that makes me wonder if, again because Bill is a triangle and the things he does are literally impossible, it makes people less inclined to see his relationship with Ford as abusive when I have read two separate analyses (one of them is the one referred to above) that straight up say "This reads like a domestic abuse situation." One of them (the one NOT linked above, I'll look for it later) says that Bill hits every. Single. Criteria. For an abuser.

Even before Ford learned what Bill was really there to do, their relationship wasn't good. Bill doesn't show up for months and when Ford asks him where he's been, Bill responds by basically gaslighting him and making him doubt McGucket.

And there's one more thing I noticed. I wasn't in the GF fandom when the show was airing, but I'm pretty sure Billdip didn't become a popular ship until after Sock Puppet Opera, much the same as Billford wasn't so popular until TBOB. It's a pattern of "Bill abuses someone, then gets shipped with that someone." It's quite disturbing.

I know people are going to ship what they're going to ship, but Bill x Pines family members really shouldn't be so popular imo.

Tl;dr: If Bill were a human and you saw him torturing Ford, would you still ship them?

I'm pretty sure I forgot some of what I was going to say, so I might edit this later or reblog it with the extra information.

I do want to say that I do NOT support being rude, sending hate comments or death threats to people who do ship this. Don't do that. Just wanted to say, just in case.

I also want to say that though I put "anti Billford" and "anti Billdip" in the tags, I'm pretty sure I'm not an anti, though I haven't been able to fully figure out what the term means.

Another addendum: I am NOT qualified to be talking about abuse.

This is just a theory.

[weirdlookingsnakewithlegs]

Earthspark Analysis

S1 Ep3 - Moo-ving In

- Bee is speeding, great start!

- Okay jumping the train was actually sick.

- Bee is so tired of this stuff already.

- THERE’S A CALF!!! She makes me miss my own babies back on the farm!

- Bee scaring the baby >:(

- Not Thrash imitating the transformation sound

- Okay yeah transformation is definitely instinctual and not base book.

- Bee’s eyebrows do look like that.

- Alright, Bee is definitely struggling with the reintegration. He wants to be back with the other autobots, badly in fact. It’s making him struggle with this mission because he wants to rush it so badly. Which makes sense, I would want to be back with my friends as well if I were gone for so long. However, I don’t think taking a note from Megatron’s book is going to do well here.

- “Big bumbling know it all” Lmao

- I would like to preface and say that is is clear Twitch is trying to take Bumblebee’s advice despite not exactly liking him yet.

- Bumblebee getting startled by a cow is very funny.

- Okay Elita has a much better view on how to lead! Knowing your team is important. The problem here however is the terrans might not know themselves well either.

- The kids being cute is actually adorable and again I would kill a man for these four.

- Bee has a valid reason to be mad about the walkie talkies I feel.

- Oh stars a family game night

- Bee is just STRUGGLING, I wonder if this is from lack of contact and communication

- Ah yes, discourse

- Oh, there’s the snap

- Yes, tell Bee off, I too get angry when people disrespect my cow (I love you Millie)

- Flying through the ceiling because you’re angry, valid I suppose, though I am concerned about the property damage.

- Not the dad still going

- I love that the terrans are child-like, the swap from being angry to being excited about something is certainly a child like thing to do. Distractions might not be good all the time but they can help you figure out feelings with being influenced about your emotions. Stressful event happens, offer a distraction to calm emotions, return to evaluate.

- Twitch struggling to change back, oh I love it

- Optimus you little glitch with that voicemail tone

- Okay I love Dot for the comment, “If you figure out how to get them to listen let me know how” not only is she sharing the fact she struggles with the same issue but she’s validating Bee as well, it’s something he most definitely needs right now.

- Awe, his little smile! Bee’s so cute

- If anything happens to these cows I will go feral

- Bee finally understanding that his teaching style may not be the best way of going about things does wonders for me.

- Maltobots!!

- Calling the cows doggies <3

- Bee can lift a hay roll. With ease. Can he fucking juggle cows? Because that hay roll definitely weighs about the same as one of those cows. Which is about 1200 pounds. I get it giant alien robot but still >^>

- Went from Fluffy Ears being stuck to Twitch being stuck, I hadn’t even considered the fact that pedes could get stuck like that.

- Is this train foreshadowing. Is that what this is. That’s such a baller move

- Corn

- Ah yes character development as you’re about to be crushed by a train

- Not the train pun

- Also love the way Bee is holding Fluffy Ears

- Spin hug!!! I love spin hugs

- Bee is family, I love that <3

- Family game night take two!

- Bro just slid Optimus, that’s wild

Characters:

Twitch: She’s definitely gaining character, that I’m happy about. Over all I see a very big need for development, she seems to doubt herself a lot though and that shows with her transformation troubles.

Thrash: I didn’t get much from him this episode in all honesty but it looks like the next episode is about him.

Bumblebee: In the beginning of the episode it’s quite obvious to me that Bee struggles with familiarity, he didn’t seem comfortable on Earth and he didn’t seem comfortable with the Maltos. The definitely changes though even in the beginning when he’s working on getting advice from the others. It’s subtle in the beginning but no change in immediate. By the end of the episode he definitely seems much more relaxed, at ease with his situation and willing to put in the effort now that he understands how to do things, and now that he sees the Maltos as something more than a job.

Footnotes:

- Wanna preface and say I’m sorry this took so long, before I started this I began some training and it took more effort than I thought along with the craziness of the holiday season.

- Now, I don’t have much to really say but it’s wonderful we get to see the terrans act like children, it’s wonderful that they think how kids do. It’s amazing they don’t have experience because they shouldn’t. I’m loving each minor detail in this, can’t wait to see the Decepticons and I especially can’t wait to see the villain development of Mandroid.

Earthspark Analysis

How this will work:

- Starting from this post there will be a series of reblogs.

- Each will begin with the episode number/title.

- Important characters will be given an analysis based on their behavior/decisions/choice of words.

- I may also focus on background characters at times should I see anything interesting.

- I will also focus on other things, for example, if there are fights scenes I will likely make comments.

What you should expect:

I am by no means an expert and this is solely for fun! If you don’t like/agree with what I think that’s okay! In the end we’re all just having fun and this is just for the silly!

Things to watch out for:

I can be oblivious at times! Tell me if I missed something you think is important and I’ll try to round back and take a gander!

🩵 Now let’s get this show on the road! 🩵

[feverflushed]

Also, hello! I'm still somewhat alive, if someone still remembers me lol.

In the last couple of years life has been kind of slapping me in the face, healthwise, but I'll try to be more active!

How's everyone doing? What drama did I miss while I was gone? :P

[nenoname]

It's still interesting that TBoB called more attention to Stan's control over his mindscape (And if you go with the interpretation that the lost pages are partial truths that are heavily influenced by Bill, then he's the one insisting that only someone with training should be able to have that much control over the mind.)

Meanwhile we have a memory!Stan. Someone who apparently knows too much and is rather aware for being a simple memory.

From the Wheel of Shame, we know Bill was able dig up all kinds of dirt on Stan but... that wasn't why he was there in the first place, was it?

Bill couldn't find the code immediately despite a memory of Stan opening the safe being a few hours old at most and decided to have Mabel try find it for him (The original concept of the ep had it far more hidden but this was likely cut because of time constraints)

Ford did experiments on Stan's mind which likely meant using Project Mentem and actually looking around his mindscape, and his only reaction was to comment on his jokes-- despite what little we the audience know being enough to render us sobbing wrecks

(yes I refuse to shut up about this part cos the book's intro is extremely underrated)

Stan was able to replace his memories of Ford with the swingset instead and managed to hide Ford in his Bar Mitzvah memory. And that's not even mentioning the lack of visible Portal and Stan o' War which noticeably show up in Ford's dreamscape (the broken swingset manifesting anyway pains me tho)

He subconsciously has misdirects for his secrets that are both silly and manages to disturb everyone too

And while Bill-as-Soos being bored by the vending machine memory is a joke that's basically the crew's way of going "hey remember the thing way back in the first ep that's going to show up in the next one?" and in-universe appears to be Stan slipping up, it's interesting that they had Stan input the wrong code when it's consistent literally every other time its inputted (especially when it shows up correctly in the very next episode)

It's even possible that the safe code that Bill found could have been a misdirect too but we'll never know since the safe got blown open by dynamite.

Stan was able to buy time by making his mind blank despite being genuinely terrified when Bill enters his mind (to the point that he breaks character and uses his own voice to yell), and could conjure up his living room (in colour opposed to his mind's regular greyscale) to make sure Bill didn't have enough room to flee, slamming the door in his face before the effects of the memory gun kicked in.

(EDIT: Random door analysis here)

And maybe the twins eventually told him that Bill had already been inside his mind after their W3 reunion, but all we know was that his conscious self was left in the dark for ages and wasn't really aware of Bill until Weirdmageddon.

TBoB showing McGucket's dreamscape also brings up the idea of the effects of the memory gun manifesting differently to each person. To Stan's mindscape, the memory wipe manifests as blue flames which immediately brings to mind Bill's powers but it's a far lighter shade (maybe to more closely match the memory gun and its eventual fade to white?)

The end of TBoB and the website poem also firmly reminds us about Stan's connection to fire but there's also the question if Stan himself is actually aware of it...

[somnimagus]

My page for @sheikahzine; about Impaz's duty to her village, empty of people and full of memories.

[id in alt text]

[hugsandchaos]

This was so fun to read! I’m sorry I was slow, I was called to take care of something.

I also realized this ship existed when I was thinking about how cool all three ships are and remembered polyamorous relationships are a thing.

I completely agree with the Sun + Moon + Earth, I feel like it’s the best way to describe them! I couldn’t have said any of it better myself!

I also first thought of SonShadAmy in the Boom universe, so please forgive me if I seem like I’m only focusing on it. It’s just where most of my ideas came from and reside.

The way I picture them getting together is that Sonic and Amy are already dating or about to date when Shadow comes along, and start dating before either realizes they’ve also fallen for Shadow.

They both started to fall for Shadow around the same time, Sonic did just a week before Amy did. At some point, they both realized they had feelings for both their current partner and Shadow. They eventually sat down and were ready for something bad from what they had to say, but they were going to say it anyways because communication is key for a good relationship. Even if Sonic isn’t the best at it.

They quickly realize that they both feel the same way — They both want to date Shadow and still date each other! They want to be in a happy three-person relationship. What they thought could destroy their relationship actually just made it better! They had a conversation about it. I feel like Amy would tell Sonic that she feels proud that they’re able to have these conversations knowing that Sonic (or at least Boom Sonic) isn’t the best with feelings and Sonic just hugs her because, again, not the best with feelings.

(I can totally see them telling each other their favorite parts about Shadow after that conversation 😆)

But there was still one problem. Would Shadow accept them? What if he only accepted one and not the other?

Meanwhile, Shadow has realized that he likes these two and doesn’t know what to do. On one side, he’s trying to deny his feelings. He’s been hurt by friends and family, and he’s seen people devastated from a romantic breakup. He’s terrified of going through the same thing on top of… everything else. On the other side, he’s doubting they even like him back.

He still meets up with them and hangs out with them because he doesn’t want to loose the friendship and is working on his self isolation issues, but he makes sure that they don’t know that he’s falling for them.

Until they appear inviting him to go stargazing, just the three of them. Shadow hates (loves) his mind at this moment because it sounds like a date offer? The way they made it clear it’s just be the three of them being there felt like they were hinting at something. He agrees and has an argument with his brain once they’re gone that it’s not a date.

It was a date. And it was amazing.

As for when they do get together, all three, here’s a few headcanons and scenarios that I’ve probably shared with you before.

Whenever one of them (Sonic or Amy) is sick, the other two will most certainly take care of them. I feel like Sonic and Amy would both freak out over their girlfriend/boyfriend being sick while Shadow remains composed, but is secretly panicking as well. He will stay by his partner’s side through it if they allow him to because he can’t get sick from them.

Shadow and Amy both trying to help Sonic with his fear of water, either by trying to help him face it or by… I don’t know, carrying him over a river?

Amy falling asleep while reading a book about what the world knows about the ancients so far and waking up in her bed. Possibly sandwiched between her boyfriends, or cuddled by one while the other is doing something like making food.

Meeting family. Meeting Amy’s folks goes well, they’re friendly. Tails is pretty much Sonic’s only family, unless you say the rest of the team is also his found family. Rouge and Omega (and Eclipse if we include the Black Arms) would totally interrogate Sonic and Amy. If not outright, then subtly, and Shadow would recognize it instantly.

I have a lot more to say, but I don’t want to ramble too much.

@cellsknife I JUST REALIZED

Shadow cuddling with Sonic and Amy might be different with Silver. Shadow has a habit of curling up around Silver when they sleep, so the two wouldn’t get much attention from Shadow. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he pushed them away in his sleep because his unconscious self is believing that he’s protecting his baby. And they most certainly aren’t going to be able to take Silver from him once he’s asleep.

[thelaurenshippen]

cw: harry potter, jk rowling, transphobia

I occasionally see posts/get messages about the various harry potter references in the bright sessions, etc. and I've gotten a bunch of new followers recently so just so any new/younger listeners of my shows know:

jk rowling is a terrible transphobe whom I hold zero respect for and I haven't given a dime of my money to her since she revealed who she truly is. I want the whole bright universe to be a safe space for trans people (including the trans folks in our cast and crew!) and if I could go back and remove those references, I would. but I can't! harry potter was an extremely significant part of my life until...well, until it became very clear who she really was. it makes me so sad to think that folks might be finding TBS now and get thrown out of the story by these references, but just know that the people who made the show do not stand by jk, and that in many ways, the show is a product of its time.